LOW-BACK-PAIN IN THE YOUNG - A PROSPECTIVE 3-YEAR FOLLOW-UP-STUDY OF SUBJECTS WITH AND WITHOUT LOW-BACK-PAIN

Study Design. This was a prospective 3-year follow-up study of randomi zed matched subgroups of 15-year-old school children with or without l ow back pain initially. Objective, In addition to low back pain and le isure time physical activity, spinal mobility, trunk muscle strength, and early degenerative findings of the lumbar spine were evaluated. Su mmary of Background Data. Reliable epidemiologic studies on the preval ence of low back pain and development of early degenerative changes of the lumbar spine in young persons have been sparse, Along with severa l other characteristics, the relationship of these changes to frequent low back pain in young persons is not known. Methods, After a questio nnaire-based survey was administered, subjects with or without low bac k pain were examined initially and at follow-up with special reference to leisure time physical activity, anthropometry, spinal mobility, tr unk muscle strength,and magnetic resonance imaging findings of the lum bar spine. Results, At baseline and at follow-up, those subjects with initial low back pain were characterized by a low frequency of physica l activity and decreased spinal function, During follow-up, the occurr ence of disc degeneration increased significantly more in the original group with low back pain than among asymptomatic subjects. Furthermor e, disc degeneration at baseline significantly predicted future freque nt low back pain. Initial disc protrusion also predicted future freque nt low back pain. Conclusion. After the rapid physical growth period, there seemed to be a causal relationship between the early evolution o f the degenerative processes of the lower lumbar discs and frequent lo w back pain in several subjects.